Return to the cinemas

It was only because I am paying membership for Cineville that gives me unlimited access to art cinemas, that finally made me get out of the house - this time they offered to bring a friend along for free - an offer impossible to refuse. I was working very hard during March, but now come April, I decided to give it a go.

"The Duke" is very much praised but to me this is just a cute afternoon TV amusement. It is a very clever and affectionate little story with Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren in the main roles, but for all its cuteness and humanity, I start wondering are we perhaps too spoiled with superheroes flying around so at this point a movie without special effects feels kinda old fashioned? It has a very charming feeling of 1960s movies and it does feels like a homage to famous Ealing Studios - I almost waited for adorable little Katie Johnson to suddenly arrive at the front door. The movie is advertised as "ridiculously charming" but there is a sadness and melancholy woven into the script (probably for the sake of such distinguished actors) that stops it from being genuinely funny in sense that "The Ladykillers" were - just like "Calendar Girls" (also with Mirren) it starts as a comedy and than spirals into something more serious and dramatic, which unfortunately drags the whole movie down. The main actors are of course fantastic but watching the mousy haired Mirren furiously brushing wc seat reminds me a bit of similar Judi Dench turn as a quiet, mousy wife in "84 Charing Cross Road" - I simply don't enjoy my heroines being ordinary, invisible housewives. I cried a lot during this movie so this was definitely not a comedy for me, I attributed it to post Covid stress. 

I have written here already about two previous movies by Robert Eggers - it was actually fun to look back on this very blog and read again my reactions. I was initially baffled by "The Witch" and was celebrating "The Lighthouse" immediately as a masterpiece - this guy has such a unique film making style! - so naturally I had to run to cinema to see his latest movie "The Northman" which is basically a Hamlet story transported into much earlier, pagan age (when Christianity was still new sect in North of Europe). I have enjoyed it very much and I am glad that he kept his individual style but suspect that he might get sidetracked into making big budgeted her movies for the machinery, where previously his movies were fairly simple, with small cast and lots of psychological fear going on. I would really hate to see him doing crap like Batman, etc. Swedish actor & my old buddy from "True Blood" is here as a viking prince (Alexander Skarsgård), while the rest of the cast is mostly unrecognisable under long dirty hair, sweat and mud - I was quite alarmed how Skarsgård metamorphosed into such a gladiator because he was previously a personification of hip elegance and now he is ready to tear down the walls of Jericho with bare hands. There is a small, but very effective role for Nicole Kidman who is playing what in Shakespeare's hands would be a queen Gertrude, but here her name is Queen Gudrún - this is one of her best roles ever and she is magnificent but I am still disturbed and distracted with whatever she did to her face and at some points later in the movie (specially with candle lights) it looks as she wears a death mask. Really distracting. Warning: this has nothing to do with meek and mild Hamlet, this one crushes skulls and walks around covered in the enemies blood.

Surprisingly, the one I enjoyed the most was deliciously dirty "Red Rocket" which was a hysterical white trash saga set in alternative Jerry Springer world (but probably not exaggerated at all) with a washed up porn actor Simon Rex knocking back at his ex wive's door and begging for a place to stay for a while. It is very much like John Waters movie, with all sorts of mad characters stealing from each other, smoking crack, poking noses into everybody's business and naturally perpetually smoking and watching TV shows - I honestly don't think this is exaggerated for comedy purpose, I believe this is reality now and the whole world is aware of it. It was so ridiculous that you just have to stop being shocked and let yourself go, I laughed a lot but was also alarmed so that was fun.